So, much of Britainâ€™s highly sensitive nuclear industry â€“ which sprang from the atomic bomb programme â€“ is effectively to be owned by two foreign powers, one the countryâ€™s oldest traditional enemy, the other a bitter Cold War opponent. Few other nations, and certainly not China, would dream of permitting anything of the kind. Doesnâ€™t Mr Osborne see that this could be a bit radioactive, shall we say?

He half-concedes the point. â€œThere are many countries in the world who wouldnâ€™t want other countries involved in their civil nuclear programme,â€ he admits, but adds: â€œI do, because if it wasnâ€™t Chinese investment or French investment, it would have to be British taxpayers.â€

Why taxpayers? Because British investors and industry shun nuclear power. Indeed the Chinese are replacing Centrica, which pulled out, with rapidly cooling feet, earlier this year. No one has built an atomic power station here since the nationalised Central Electricity Generating Board 20 years ago and it managed only one â€“ at Sizewell â€“ out of a planned programme of 10. Although commentators frequently fulminate about the failure of successive governments to go nuclear, the real problem has been that â€“ in a liberalised electricity market â€“ no one could be persuaded to invest in new reactors.

It is much the same around the world. The atomâ€™s share of global electricity generation stagnated for a quarter of a century even before the Fukushima accident. That disaster hit the industry hard, with countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Belgium phasing it out altogether. All of Japanâ€™s 50 nuclear power stations are now offline, and only last week the Canadian province of Ontario killed plans to construct two new ones.

The two next-generation reactors being built in Europe â€“ in Finland and France â€“ are years behind schedule and billions of euros over-budget. And even before work begins, costs have been soaring, and the timetable slipping, at Hinkley too.

China, by contrast, is a really bright spot, building about half the atomic power stations now under construction in the world. Critics worry about its nuclear industryâ€™s safety arrangements and lack of transparency â€“ just as they doubt the wisdom of entrusting energy security to a state so prone to launching cyber-attacks â€“ but it is putting reactors up within budget and on schedule. So thereâ€™s a good chance that Chinese involvement will finally bring Britainâ€™s new-build programme to life.

LONDON, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and French companies signed an agreement Wednesday to build a British nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in southwestern England.

In the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister David Cameron, China General Nuclear Power Corp. (CGN) and Electricite de France (EDF) signed a strategic investment agreement.

According to the agreement, the CGN-led Chinese consortium takes a 33.5 percent stake and EDF takes 66.5 percent in the Hinkley Point C nuclear power project.

Cameron described the deal as "historic" as the project would provide reliable, affordable energy to nearly 6 million homes and create more than 25,000 jobs.

He Yu, chairman of CGN, told Xinhua that the deal would promote the exportation of Chinese nuclear facilities to high-end markets in Europe and provide opportunities for Chinese companies to get fully involved in the development of Britain's nuclear power industry.

He attributed the company's participation in the project to the increasingly close economic and trade ties between the two countries.

"As political mutual trust and economic partnership develop, I believe more breakthroughs will be seen in cooperation in the nuclear power industry of the two countries," he said.

The Chinese investment will step up the construction of the project and strongly help Britain in developing clean energy and ensuring energy supply, he added.

The power station, with two reactors, will have a total capacity of 3.3 GW, which is expected to be the largest output by a single plant in Britain.

CGN's talents, technology and industry chain will promote the industrial development, create jobs and enhance personnel training for the British side, he said.

Prof. David Elmes with Britain's Warwick Business School said that the project is supposed to prompt a new wave of Chinese investment in British energy infrastructure, noting that it is the first project in the British government's plans for a series of new nuclear power stations.

The trilateral UK-France-China deal is quite an inspiration. Now Romania is also opting for Chinese investment to build and operate nuclear power plants.

Chinese company to hold 51 per cent of the joint-stock company to build Units 3 and 4 of Cernavoda nuclear plant

Romania's state-owned Nuclearelectrica Company (SNN) will contribute two million euros to get 49 percent of the joint-stock company (JVCo) that will build Units 3 and 4 of the nuclear power plant in Cernavoda; China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) will have 51pct, according to a Memorandum of Understanding on the development, building, operation and decommissioning these units.

no one shall be cocooned into outdated ideologies. both French and Russians are building nuclear plants in China. NATO and semi NATO countries like Greece and Israel have given Chinese their srrategic ports for operations. McDonald probably makes more earnings from China than the whole Europe added up.